Summertime swimmers at Mahwah’s municipal pool will notice slightly steeper prices this year when purchasing membership cards and daily swim passes. The township council voted at Thursday night’s budget hearing to raise the rates after hearing from Pool Manager Marion Crescitelli that operating costs have gone up, and membership rates have gone down. According to the council, this is the first time in three years that many of the rates have changed.

According to Crescitelli, the number of pool memberships – which residents and non-residents can sign up for to get season-long access to the pool – has gone down over the past 10 years. In 2011, memberships at every price range except for one went down. Non-resident family memberships rose significantly, she said, jumping from only 5 memberships in 2010 to 42 last year. The council attributed the rise to a fee reduction in the category in 2011, from over $700 per family to $400.

Crescitelli said the money the pool made in 2011 in all other categories, however, went up. It made more money from individual day rates (paying once to use the pool), program fees (swim and dive lessons, swim team, etc.) and food sales, than it had made on those items in 2010.

While memberships were down four percent in 2011, the overall revenue taken in by the pool remained flat because of increased participation in these other categories. “People are still coming, they are still using the pool,” Crescitelli said. “They are just trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it.”

Crescitelli estimated about $227,000 in costs to operate the pool this year, and only $150K in revenue. Keeping the fees stable in 2012 would mean the pool was costing the township $78K this year to run.

“We should at least try to break even,” Councilman Harry Williams said Thursday. “Losing that much money a year, any private entity would close down.”

The council voted to approve the following fee rates for this summer:

The costs to join the pool’s swim team, and take swimming and diving lessons remain the same as last year.

Councilwoman Lisa DiGiulio voted against the fee hikes. “This is for people in town who don’t have a pool,” she said. “This is an important form of recreation for them.”

However, according to Williams, the number of people who use the pool is trending downward, and the number of people in town who own their own pools is trending upward.

Crescitelli said in addition to general costs going up, the township must also install upgrades in and around the pool to keep up with new Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. In addition to some of the adjustments already made to the pool, Crescitelli said the flat area where a volleyball net is now may need to become a handicapped accessible playground, since the current playground is on a hill. "The whole pool is basically in a bowl, so we face accessibilty issues," she said.

If ADA rules require the change, the volleyball net would only be relocated if the manager could find another suitable place for it.

"It's not just us," Crescitelli said of installing and changing equipment. "All pools are being required to do it by the ADA, and we are ahead of a lot of others." The Mahwah Municipal Pool also received a $23,000 grant to help with installation costs, she said.

The pool opens the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.